Page 77 of The Secret Librarian
He shrugged. ‘I remembered all the things you loved the most, and I knew you’d never find cakes as good in America. We can just have a bite of each if you like, and give the leftovers to the children playing in the square.’
‘I knew there was a reason I liked you.’ She sighed and picked up one of the little forks. ‘And thank you. This was incredibly thoughtful.’
‘I thought it might be a nice distraction from the fact you’re leaving. I’ve never been one for goodbyes.’
Suddenly the cake went dry in her mouth and Avery found it hard to swallow.
‘I don’t want to go,’ she said.
‘I don’t want you to go, either,’ he replied, quickly, as if he hadn’t even had to think about it.
‘Are you staying in Lisbon?’ she asked.
‘No. I’ll be recalled back to London soon and then perhaps posted elsewhere until the end of the war.’
She pushed her fork into a slice of cake, more for something to do than because she wanted a piece. It also meant James couldn’t see her tears with her head down.
‘Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?’ she asked, when she finally looked up, and he took her hand in his.
He opened his mouth and then closed it, his fingers still linked with hers. ‘I hope so, Avery. I certainly hope so.’
They changed the subject and made each other laugh, and Avery fed James mouthfuls of cake on her little fork, until finally she knew it was time to leave and she stood, her hands at her sides, not knowing what to do.
But James took the lead, opening his arms and engulfing her in the kind of bear hug that she would never forget, his mouth against her hair.
‘Avery, if I were to ask you to marry me, once this war is over, would you say yes?’
She grinned up at him, thinking he was teasing to begin with, but realising from the earnest way he was looking at her that he was being serious.
‘I think a girl would have to be asked first, once the war was over,’ she said, standing on tiptoe and kissing his cheek.
James took her hand then and they began the short stroll back to her apartment, through Rossio Square and on to the cobbled streets with buildings on one side and water on the other. Past women balancing fish baskets on their heads, and foreign women with skirts short enough to show their knees, and food marketswith locals shouting to each other and laughing, and boys on the street corner polishing shoes.
It wasn’t just James she was going to miss, or Camille; it was Lisbon itself. A place so vibrant that it would be etched in her mind forever. The adventure she’d always dreamed of, and the friends who’d stay in her heart until her final breath.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Camille
Camille was nervous every time the bell rang now. The truth was that she was safer than she’d ever been now that she was no longer deceiving a Nazi or trying to hunt for her husband’s killer, but she still shivered whenever she thought about that night and how close she’d come to death. Ever since Hugo’s passing, she’d thought she wanted to join him to stop the pain, but when she’d been faced with it, she’d realised how much she still wanted to live.
When she saw who was walking towards her, she breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Hello, Camille.’
Her shoulders dropped from where she’d had them hunched up. ‘Bonjour, James.’ She immediately went to him, opening her arms and giving him a warm hug before kissing his cheeks.
He looked surprised, or perhaps just a little bashful at the attention, his cheeks flaring a dark pink.
‘I have a feeling you’re not calling in just to say hello,’ she said. ‘But I’m pleased you’re here either way.’
Camille went to the door and turned the sign to ‘Closed’, locking it and beckoning for James to follow her. She took him to the room in the back.
‘Coffee?’
He nodded. ‘Please.’
She busied herself with making them both a drink and turned around to pass him the cup, sitting on the table so he could take the single chair. It reminded her so much of Avery every time she was in the office, of hearing the constant click of her camera as she worked.
